Officials urge flu vaccine for 2012-2013 season
An electron micrograph of influenza virus particles.
/ CDC(CBS News) Health officials are urging Americans to start thinking about their flu vaccine for the upcoming 2012-2013 influenza season. Though last year's flu season was considered mild, health experts warn influenza is unpredictable and the disease could take a serious toll on many Americans.
Flu season begins as early as October and may last until May, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).
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"I urge everyone to join me and get a flu vaccine this year," Assistant Secretary for Health and Human Services Dr. Howard K. Koh said in a press release. Koh was the first to receive his flu vaccine during a Thursday National Foundation for Infectious Diseases' news conference in Washington, D.C. where he was joined by officials from the American Medical Association, American Academy of Pediatrics, American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists, American Pharmacists Association, AARP, National Medical Association and CDC.
"When it comes to flu, we can't look to the past to predict the future," Koh said. "Stay healthy - get vaccinated!"
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Report: Yosemite workers tested for Hantavirus
Yosemite National Park
The testing is part of a pilot program for the park's 2,500 employees, to see how many were infected with the disease but aren't showing symptoms, reports KTVU-TV in Oakland, California.
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Nine people who spent time at the park this year have been infected with the rare virus, the majority after staying at the "Signature" cabins in Curry Village. Three of them died.
CDC: 147 West Nile deaths in U.S. this year
CBS News
(CBS News) There have been 3,545 cases of West Nile virus reported in the U.S. as of Sept. 25, according to the latest statistics released by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) on Wednesday. Of theses cases, 147 have proven fatal this year.
The new numbers through last week are the highest number of West Nile virus disease cases reported since September 2003.
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About 51 percent, or 1,816 cases, are classified as neuroinvasive disease or brain-related, which include meningitis or encephalitis. The remaining 1,729 cases are non-neuroinvasive. Seventy percent of the reports are coming from eight states: Mississippi, South Dakota, Michigan, California, Louisiana, Oklahoma, Illinois and Texas.
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First treatment for progeria shows promise
In this photo taken Wednesday, Aug. 24, 2011 progeria sufferer Ontlametse Phalatse, is photographed in her "Hannah Montana" bedroom after a day at school. in Hebron, near Pretoria, South Africa.
/ AP Photo/Denis Farrell(CBS News) The first experimental drug for the treatment of progeria has brought hope for the families and people affected by the accelerated aging disease.
Progeria patients who used a farnesyl transferase inhibitors (FTI) called lonafarnib were able to improve their cardiovascular health and increase their weight gain, problems usually associated with the condition. The drug was initially slated by manufacture Merck to treat brain cancer, but was found ineffective against that disease.
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"This is a fantastic first step," says Leslie Gordon, medical director for the Progeria Research Foundation, a physician at Boston Children's Hospital and Brown University and the mother of a child with progeria, told NPR.
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Girl with autism, DiGeorge syndrome memorizes ballet
(CBS News) It's hard to remember an entire dance routine, but one special girl has committed the entire lead ballet role in Coppelia to memory.
Clara Bergs's parents wrote that they thought their daughter was just dancing ballet moves around the house, until they realized she had memorized an entire routine from the Coppelia ballet.
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The 10-year-old is diagnosed with both autism and DiGeorge syndrome, a genetic disorder.
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CDC: West Nile virus rates continue to climb
Dead mosquitoes are lined up waiting to be sorted at the Dallas County mosquito lab in Dallas, Thursday, Aug. 16, 2012. Texas accounts for 40 percent of the country's West Nile virus cases, the CDC announced Wednesday.
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Last week, the CDC announced 2,636 cases of the virus with 118 deaths - representing a 19 percent rise in reported cases over the week.
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Ebola virus claims 31 lives in DR Congo
CBSNews/istockphoto
10 people dead from Ebola outbreak in Democratic Republic of the Congo
There are now 65 probable cases of the disease, with 108 more people potentially infected. Five of the deaths were health workers.
"The epidemic is not under control. On the contrary the situation is very, very serious," Eugene Kabambi, a WHO spokesman in DR Congo's capital Kinshasa, told Reuters.
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Study: Whooping cough vaccine protection wears off
An empty bottle of Tetanus, Diphthera and Pertussis, (whooping cough) vaccine sits on display at Inderkum High School, Monday, Sept. 19, 2011, in Sacramento, Calif.
/ Rich PedroncelliThere are several formulations to get vaccinated for whooping cough, also known as pertussis. DTaP is a five dose series recommended at 2,4 or 6 months; 15 through 18 months and 4 through 6 years of age. Tdap is a booster dose given to people 11 to 12 years old, pregnant women and any adult that has not previously had been vaccinated.
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A study published online in the Sept. 12 issue of the New England Journal of Medicine found that the protective effect weakens dramatically soon after a youngster gets the last of the five recommended shots around age 6.
Daily steroid use may not aid some asthma patients
iStockphoto
Researchers at the University of Texas Medical Branch at Galveston discovered that patients who used corticosteroids prescribed daily to control their symptoms did not show any more improvements in their condition compared to those who only used the medication when they were having an attack.
"The discovery that these two courses of treatment do not differ significantly could eventually change the way doctors and patients manage asthma, providing an option that is easier to follow and possibly less expensive," lead author Dr. William J. Calhoun, professor and vice chair for research in internal medicine at UTMB, said in the press release. "Our findings build on a considerable foundation of research in the field and come at a time when asthma cases are rising at an alarming rate - especially in lower-income communities."
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7-year-old leaves hospital after bubonic plague
Seven-year-old Sierra Jane Downing from Pagosa Springs, Colo., smiles during a news conference about her recovery from bubonic plague at the Rocky Mountain Hospital for Children at Presbyterian/St. Luke's Sept. 5, 2012, in Denver.
/ AP Photo/Jack Dempsey(CBS/AP) DENVER - A 7-year-old girl who reportedly was infected with the bubonic plague after burying a dead squirrel is now well enough to go home.
Sierra Jane Downing of Pagosa Springs, Colo. left the Denver hospital Monday afternoon.
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Her father had taken her to an emergency room in Pagosa Springslate Aug. 24 after she had a seizure and 107-degree fever. Sierra Jane eventually was flown to Rocky Mountain Hospital for Children in Denver, where doctors diagnosed her with bubonic plague.
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Hantavirus found in Texas hoarder's home
A home in The Woodlands Texas that was featured on the TLC show, "Hoarding: Buried Alive."
/ KHOUThe house was recently the scene of the taping of the TLC cable channel's reality program "Hoarding: Buried Alive." Dr. Mark Escott of the Montgomery County Health Department says officials learned Friday that the daughter of the homeowner tested positive for the non-contagious but potentially deadly virus.
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Escott says the woman had fallen ill within the past two weeks and is no longer hospitalized. He says the daughter was among 29 people who cleaned out the cluttered interior of her mother's home.
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Third victim dies from Yosemite hantavirus
In this photo from Sunday Oct. 23, 2011, tents are seen in Curry Village in Yosemite National Park, Calif.
/ (AP Photo/Ben Margot)The man, who is from West Virginia, is one of eight Yosemite visitors who have been confirmed to have the the virus.
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Five people are ill from the outbreak reported last week by park officials, who said up to 10,000 guests could have been exposed to hantavirus pulmonary syndrome from sleeping in the cabins since June 10.
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7-year-old Colorado girl contracts bubonic plague
Sierra Jane Downing, from Pagosa Springs, Colo., watches while her mother Darcy Downing talks about her recovery from Bubonic Plague at the Rocky Mountain Hospital for Children at Presbyterian/St. Luke's during a news conference Sept. 5, 2012, in Denver.
/ AP Photo/Jack DempseyThe parents of 7-year-old Sierra Jane Downing thought she had the flu when she felt sick days after camping in southwest Colorado.
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When she had a seizure, her father rushed her to the local hospital in Pagosa Springs. The emergency room doctor who saw Sierra Jane for the seizure and a 107-degree fever late Aug. 24 wasn't sure what was wrong either, and called other hospitals before the girl was flown to Denver.
A pediatric doctor racing to save the girl's life at Rocky Mountain Hospital for Children got the first inkling that she had bubonic plague. Dr. Jennifer Snow first suspected the rare disease after factoring in the girl's symptoms, a history of where she'd been and an online journal's article on a teen with similar symptoms.
"If she had stayed home, she could've easily died within 24 to 48 hours from the shock of infection," Snow said.
Continue » 10k Yosemite visitors possibly exposed to hantavirus
The signature tent cabins in Curry Village at Yosemite National Park
/ Yosemite National ParkPark concessionaire Delaware North Co. sent letters and emails this week to nearly 3,000 people worldwide who reserved the insulated "signature" cabins in Curry Village between June and August, warning them that they might have been exposed.
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The cabins hold up to four people, and park spokesman Scott Gediman said Friday that means up to 7,000 more visitors might have been exposed to the virus that so far has killed two people and sickened four others.
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Ohio officials report 1st death from new swine flu
Visitors to the swine and sheep building at the Minnesota State Fair wash their hands after visiting the building in keeping with advice from health officials concerned about a new strain of swine flu, Aug. 23, 2012 in Falcon Heights, Minn.
/ AP(CBS/AP) CINCINNATI -- The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) said that the first death from a new kind of swine flu strain, as well as 12 additional cases, has been reported.
A 61-year-old Ohio woman, whose identity was not released, from central Ohio's Madison County died this week following an illness she contracted after having contact with hogs at the Ross County Fair, Ohio health officials confirmed.
The woman had underlying medical conditions, but the H3N2v influenza virus may have contributed to her death, the department said.
New cases were discovered in Minnesota, Ohio, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin, bringing the total of infected in 2012 to 289. In comparison, only 12 people were infected in all of 2011.
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